Chapter 028: Mr. Wu Is Truly an Impressive Young Man!

Chapter 028: Mr. Wu Is Truly an Impressive Young Man!

“Well, Boss Li! What a coincidence, you’re dining here too today.” The first to approach was a bespectacled man, nearly fifty, thin as a rail.

“President Han, what a coincidence indeed.” Li Ruobing feigned surprise.

Han Deli, forty-seven, president and major shareholder of Longcheng Innovation Group, an electronics component business. Married twice, one son, one daughter. The company was thriving these days—booming, even.

The instant Wu Chen laid eyes on him, he silently recited Han Deli’s file in his head.

No introduction necessary.

He already knew the man.

In truth, Han Deli and Li Ruobing had no business dealings whatsoever—cosmetics and electronics components had little overlap. But among the wealthy, acquaintance rarely required commerce as a prerequisite. There were too many other ways to cross paths: business receptions, some magnate’s birthday banquet, a friend of a friend.

The rich loved making connections, and they pursued them aggressively.

Everyone understood the calculus: one more friend, one more road open to you; one more enemy, one more wall in your way.

Though Li Ruobing preferred to avoid socializing when she could help it, she never failed to know the people worth knowing. In the art of building connections, her natural advantages ran deep.

Among a room full of billionaires, she was strikingly young, beautiful enough to turn heads, and backed by formidable standing—a combination that drew attention in nearly any setting, prompting powerful men to seek her out on their own initiative.

She exchanged pleasantries with Han Deli, who naturally noticed she was dining with a young man.

“Your brother?” Han Deli asked, smiling.

He certainly knew of Li Ruotai—few in Donghai hadn’t heard the name Young Master Li. But the Li family ran deep and wide, with plenty of third-generation heirs, so Han Deli didn’t press on whether this was her actual brother. A cousin, perhaps.

Given how young the man looked, Han Deli hadn’t even considered him a business associate.

“No. This is my boyfriend, Wu Chen.” She gestured toward him with one hand. “Darling, this is President Han of Longcheng Innovation.”

Wu Chen rose. Before he could even offer his hand, Han Deli had already extended his own.

They shook, exchanging the requisite “pleasure to meet you.”

Han Deli’s face showed surprise—genuine shock, in truth.

He knew Li Ruobing was twenty-seven and had never once dated, seemed entirely uninterested in men altogether. Her string of “fake boyfriends” had long since become something of a running joke across Donghai’s business circles.

Everyone said she kept them around purely to fend off the marriage her family kept trying to arrange.

And everyone knew they were fake—for good reason. She’d never once brought a boyfriend out to dine like this before, only ever deploying them for specific occasions, purely as props. At business banquets, if she hadn’t specified the man beside her was her boyfriend, others would have assumed he was some lackey subordinate.

Never a single intimate gesture between them.

If Li Ruobing didn’t speak first, none of her previous fake boyfriends had dared speak at all—always meek, deferential, carefully pouring her tea and topping off her water.

Which was exactly why everyone had known. Every single one of them, fake.

But this time…

She’d just called Wu Chen “darling.”

And she seemed to be in genuinely good spirits today. For a woman of such fierce, commanding temperament, smiles were rare on her face—yet here she was, wearing one with total ease.

So… was this the real thing?

“Mr. Wu, an absolute pleasure, truly! Hahaha, Mr. Wu cuts a fine figure at first glance—you two really are a perfect match. Boss Li has excellent taste!” Han Deli’s mind worked fast, his booming laugh covering the calculation beneath it, praise flowing generously toward them both.

“Thank you, President Han, you’re too kind,” Wu Chen said, smiling, then traded a glance with Li Ruobing.

“Hahaha.” Han Deli laughed again. “And may I ask where Mr. Wu is currently making his career?”

“Just graduated from university. Helping out at Ruobing’s company,” Wu Chen said.

On its face, this sounded rather unimpressive—a fresh graduate with no career of his own, working under his girlfriend. It should have read as a red flag.

But.

This was Li Ruobing.

Could her boyfriend possibly be an ordinary man?

The instant Wu Chen calmly admitted to being a recent graduate, the first thought that leapt into Han Deli’s mind was this: which great family’s young heir was standing in front of him?

There was no way Li Ruobing would have chosen anyone ordinary.

Given her personality, her talent, her education, her pedigree—whoever managed to catch her eye simply couldn’t be an average man.

“Boss, the clients have arrived. You…” His assistant leaned in from behind, murmuring low.

“Hahaha, my apologies—I shouldn’t intrude on your date any longer.” Han Deli pivoted smoothly. “Boss Li, wishing you continued success. My clients are here, I need to go see to them.”

“Go ahead. Success to you as well,” Li Ruobing said.

Han Deli hurried off, but even after putting considerable distance between them, right before climbing the stairs, he glanced back once more at Wu Chen.

Still turning over, in the back of his mind, whose young master this could possibly be.

“Han Deli’s a decent sort. Likes making friends, is an officer of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce…” Once he’d disappeared upstairs, Li Ruobing turned back to Wu Chen with a brief rundown.

In truth, the whole point of coming here today had been exactly this—letting people meet Wu Chen. And as her boyfriend, if this were a real relationship, he’d naturally want to know who’d just approached them. So she told him.

Made sure he understood.

Wu Chen smiled, nudged his water glass aside, straightened the bowls and chopsticks on the table, and only once she’d finished did he look up. “I know him better than you do.”

Her expression froze for half a second. Then she smiled, unbothered. “Right. You’re an information broker.”

Eight or nine minutes later, a second visitor approached.

“Boss Li, long time no see!” A tall, gaunt man in his forties, a beautiful companion at his side—though not his wife.

Wang Gu, general manager and second-largest shareholder of Zhenguang Industrial Group. His father held the largest stake and the chairman’s seat, with Wang Gu already confirmed to inherit the family business outright. One son of his own, divorced, and no shortage of lovers—three, at present, all ongoing.

“Mr. Wu, hello, hello…”

The exchange followed almost the exact same script. The moment Wang Gu learned Wu Chen was Li Ruobing’s boyfriend, he very nearly let his shock show plainly on his face.

Two more of Donghai’s business titans came by after that, one after the other—Zhou Ru, head of Weihong Electronics, and Qian Fugui, head of Lusen Real Estate. Their reactions mirrored the others precisely.

Not everyone who dined at Lao Pinxuan was necessarily some tycoon.

But without sufficient standing, no one got to know Li Ruobing at all.

And even those who recognized her by reputation wouldn’t dare approach unless their standing warranted it—they could hardly claim familiarity with her otherwise.

Which meant that every single person who’d stopped to exchange pleasantries was, in his own right, no small figure.

The dishes arrived, one after another.

They ate, murmuring quietly between bites.

Li Ruobing rarely showed her face in public like this—unless necessary, she kept a famously low profile, which was precisely why so many, spotting her here tonight, felt compelled to come over and say something.

Even so, in the time it took to finish a meal, they could only cross paths with so many people.

But word traveled fast.

Within a matter of days, no doubt, much of Donghai’s business circle would hear that the Li family’s Eldest Miss, Huancai Fashion’s boss Li Ruobing, was truly, finally, seeing someone.

“Well! Isn’t this Miss Li? What a coincidence.”

Someone else had come to greet them.

A woman.

Her tone carried no real courtesy at all—only something sharp-edged, faintly mocking.